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Share International magazine July/August 2021

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• The New Time for men
• Questions and answers – a brief selection
• Readers’ Letters – a small selection
• Signs of the time – a selection
• From our own correspondents
• The Web of Meaning, by Jeremy Lent – Book review
• Magazine subscriptions
• Previous issues
• Next update
• Remind me when this page is updated

From the inception of Share International magazine, Benjamin Creme’s Master provided an article every month for very nearly 40 years. This article, written at the beginning of our century, reads as if it were written for today’s world.

The New Time for men

by the Master —, through Benjamin Creme

With every day that passes, mankind is being shown the calamities which occur from the misuse of free will. Divine free will is man’s greatest treasure, but only when it is used in accordance with the Plan of the Logos is it lawful and right.

Man has travelled far from that understanding and so reaps the whirlwind of his wrong thought and action. Thus it is that millions suffer needlessly in the midst of plenty, wanting the means that others take for granted as their birthright.

Not for much longer can man support this separation; the Law demands a sustaining balance and, finding it not, acts to adjust and reconcile.

Moreover, the new energies of Synthesis demand expression more and more, and daily ease mankind towards that goal. Men everywhere find the rising tension difficult to bear and flounder wildly in the resulting chaos.

From deep within themselves men sense that the way to the future lies through change but see not yet the outlines of the Path. They await a sign that their needs are known and will be met but trust not the profusion of signs which everywhere announce the presence of that succour. They hope and fear at once and reject the possibility of that for which they yearn. So has it always been.

Meanwhile, sections of mankind press blissfully on, enjoying the easy fortunes which daily astonish their hungry and greedy minds. They are blind to all but their own precarious success and cannot sense the tension or hear the tolling of the bell. The disease of speculation has them in thrall and thoughts of dying ancient Rome’s excesses come to mind.

Watching these different and conflicting attitudes stands Hierarchy, seeking to aid in every way it can. Only the free will of men prevents direct intervention but the Law is the Law and must ever be obeyed; nevertheless, much help is extended which mankind never sees.

Maitreya is assessing the situation which exists from day to day, and is looking to emerge before the stock-market collapse already predicted. Steps are now being taken to make this possible. This being so, the time is short indeed until His open mission begins. Watch and be alert that you may not miss the early signs.

Maitreya will seek to galvanize into action the men and women of goodwill everywhere. Many there are who are but waiting for His call. Thus will be set in motion a great debate in which the basic needs of men everywhere will be examined and appraised. In this way, men will come to know and test the possibilities that change can guarantee and so find the courage to begin the needed transformation. Thus will it be, and thus will the Great Lord advise and guide and inaugurate the New Time for men.

(SI, April 2001)

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[This article from Share International magazine, July/August 2021, is by a senior member of the Hierarchy of Masters of Wisdom. His name, well-known in esoteric circles, is not yet being revealed. Benjamin Creme, a principal spokesman about the emergence of Maitreya, was in constant telepathic contact with this Master who dictated his article to him.]

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(Read more articles by this Master)

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Questions and answers – a small selection

At every lecture he gave around the world, and virtually every day of his life, Benjamin Creme was asked numerous questions covering a vast range of topics. We draw on this large recorded resource and publish answers provided by BC and his Master over the years, none of which have yet appeared in Share International.

Q. How can we be responsible for creating world peace when there is already much disagreement between family members regarding, for example, politics?

A. Everybody in the world is responsible for maintaining the peace of the world, and that is true for everyone, not just in America. Practically, those in so-called democracies, even if it is only putting their vote down on a card in a system that may or not work have the responsibility of using it and weighing the results in that way. They have perhaps more responsibility than have the starving millions in the world – the poor, the hungry, those who have no connection to any political party and so have no means of making their needs felt. Needless to say, they are the ones with the greatest need of all. But they have no voice and it is precisely that voice which Maitreya will give them.

He will give a voice to the needs of the poor, the hungry, the displaced, the sitting-in-jail people of the world. Hundreds of thousands of people are in jail simply for the crime of having a different point of view than that of their present government and these people have no voice. They take it for granted that they will be incarcerated and languish in prison, very often they are tortured to boot. Maitreya will speak for them and for all who need a voice and have no voice.

But those who today have a voice, the education, the voting system and a degree of democracy – you have a special responsibility.

I’m talking about the gaining of unity through political action and the need for the realization by people – all people – the educated, the authoritative, the articulate people of the world to make known, to see, to understand and realize the need for unity on an international scale; hence the necessity for all nations of the world to work together. Nothing will change if they don’t.

Q. What will convince people that peace is possible?

A. Many people imagine that Maitreya is going to come out and begin speaking, and the Masters, one by one, will be brought forward and start speaking, and the world will listen to Them and start changing. It isn’t as simple as that. It has to be done by humanity. That means it has to have, not necessarily 100 per cent consensus, but a large degree of approval by most of the people in the world. Otherwise, it wouldn’t stick. It would be an infringement of free will.

We’re not any longer going to go by simple majorities like a political party. But that reality will persist to a degree for a long time. The advice of the Masters will help to form it and transform it into a consensus.

But unless it has a degree of consensus, nothing will happen. There will be no change. It cannot be imposed because it will infringe free will and it cannot be imposed because it wouldn’t last. Anything you impose will not last unless it has the approval of the majority of the people….

So, you should not look for dramatic changes in the immediate future. The changes will take place bit by bit with a minimum of upset, the minimum destruction or conflict in the societies of the world. Whatever is acceptable will be implemented. If it’s not acceptable, it will be held over until it is accepted and it is only accepted when trust is created. That trust will be created by economic change, the number one change. It’s the answer to all of our problems really.

The starting point for solving all our problems is the change in the economic redistribution of the world’s resources, which, I’ve said over and over again and the Masters have written over and over again, is the key to all further changes because it creates trust. When you create trust, all things become possible. Then you get change in the political field. Change in the political field makes economic change, and these make changes in the purely practical field of looking out for the planet. (BC lecture, Los Angeles, August 2003)

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Readers’ Letters – a small selection

The letter presented here is new, and while we cannot confirm or indicate whether a Master is involved, we present it for your consideration.

Expecting a prophet?

On Sunday 9 May 2021, I took part in the Climate March in Lyon. The procession, of nearly 7000 people according to the organisers, stretched out along the banks of the Saône in a joyful and festive atmosphere.

At one point I was approached by a ‘reporter’ with a microphone and sound recording equipment. He did not have a camera. I didn’t see him arrive or leave and I don’t know who he was working for.

We walked side by side. The conversation was surprising, his first question was: “Are you optimistic about the future?” I answered that, yes, I am optimistic, this phenomenon is global, and we have to understand the unity of our humanity, etc.

“Where do you get this information from? What makes you say that?”

I pointed out that evolution will require the sharing of resources, that this crisis is ecological, but also social, economic and especially spiritual...

“Are you expecting a prophet then?”

I then said that at every change of era, every 2000 years or so, a great teacher comes, like the Buddha or the Christ to teach and help humanity.

“But who is he? Can we see him? Have you met him before? Is he here today? What is his name?” He was very insistent and pressed me with questions. I felt pushed to the very core and finally said that his name is Maitreya.

“How do you spell it?” M A I T R E Y A.

Then he left and said: “Thank you for giving me hope.”

I finished the event happy and glad that I could say all this in such a surprising way for me! I still think about these unexpected words and remember the dark, penetrating eyes of this young ‘journalist’ and the way he pressed me with questions. His thanks for giving him hope were an encouragement.

I got the feeling that I had come only for this moment...

G.J. – Lyon, France.

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Rallying call!

It has come to our notice that more and more people are receiving our information from the website alone, and thus forgoing the small cost of subscribing to Share International magazine.

Not everyone can, or does, use the internet, and it is essential to have an outer, physical expression, which can display with photographs, the events of which we speak. That means there has to be a magazine, which of course requires a lot of work from volunteers, and a lot of money to produce. There may be a notion that Hierarchy dishes out money for this work, but it is not the case. Subscriptions to Share International are an essential part of maintaining our work and reaching the public. The cost of the subscription is kept as low as possible, the magazine is not subsidised by advertisements and printing and postal charges are mounting all the time.

Surely we would all agree that all those who seriously believe in this work would want to support the magazine, whether or not they read the information on the internet.

Thank you for your support.

Signs of the time – a selection

Light phenomena worldwide

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From our own correspondents

 

The Sickness is the System, Richard D. Wolff

(an excerpt)

Book review by Sébastien Villemot

What does the Covid-19 pandemic reveal about the deficiencies of our economic system? Could this tragedy be the catalyst for a deep systemic change? Richard D. Wolff, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, tries to answer these questions in his latest book, The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself.

In this collection of short essays, he argues that many of the problems of our time are rooted in the economic system in which we live, namely capitalism.

This system, which has now become dominant across the globe, has always been plagued by various problems – inherent instability being one of the most important. Professor Wolff reminds us that capitalism regularly crashes, more or less violently, a phenomenon that is usually euphemized as the ‘business cycle’. Such crises happen every four to seven years on average. In the 21st century alone, the system has already been through three major downturns: the 2000-2001 dot-com bubble, the 2007- 2008 great financial crisis, and now the Covid crisis. It is interesting to note that those events are usually named after the factors that triggered them, and are never presented as crashes of capitalism itself, even though their very recurrence shows that they are an intrinsic characteristic of the system. In particular, while it is true that Covid triggered and worsened the present downturn, several economic indicators show that capitalism was already due for a crisis before the pandemic; were it not for the virus, another trigger would have precipitated a crash.

Of course, those recurring crises are not abstract events: they have very tangible and often tragic consequences for the lives of millions of people, especially those at the bottom of the social scale. Incomes and jobs are lost, personal and professional projects are crushed, families and social ties are broken, physical and mental illnesses develop. Given the huge human and social cost of this systemic instability, various solutions have been tried over the decades (Keynesian-type government spending plans, neoliberal austerity and structural reforms, active monetary policy), but all have failed at suppressing capitalist booms and busts.

After showing that the system is more to blame than Covid for our present economic and social crisis, Wolff exposes how capitalism failed at both preparing for and containing the virus.

Throughout history, humanity has repeatedly been exposed to emerging diseases, which have sometimes taken huge death tolls. More specifically, in the last few decades new respiratory viruses (SARS, MERS) appeared, and scientists had warned that it was only a matter of time until another respiratory virus, possibly of the coronavirus family, would cause a major pandemic and disrupt our social life. Since we had been warned, why were we so little prepared when Covid hit? The reason is again to be found in our socio-economic structures. The logic of capitalism is that firms only produce when they expect a profit. Preparing for the emergence of a new respiratory virus would have meant stockpiling masks and ventilators, and pre-emptively researching vaccines and treatments for the family of coronaviruses. But such activities are economically too risky. One cannot know in advance when and how a pandemic will hit, and therefore private health companies are not willing to take on the risk associated with preparing for such an event; they instead prefer to focus on alternative, more profitable opportunities....

Capitalism is therefore crash-prone and inadequate; it fails to protect us against health emergencies. But, as shown by Professor Wolff, it also bears a responsibility for many of our social illnesses, such as inequalities, unemployment, the crisis of democracy, racism and sexism....

One of the lessons of the pandemic is that capitalism is unable to respond adequately to basic health needs because of the profit motive. The same is actually true of all other basic needs: food, housing, education, energy, care for the elderly. Firms in those sectors should therefore be transformed into worker co-operatives. Consumers and communities should also be involved in economic decision-making, along with workers, so that the outcome which is in the best interest of all emerges. In the other, non-essential economic sectors, however, capitalist firms could continue to exist. In this way, society could observe how both types of firms behave, and then make an informed decision about the desired balance between capitalism and co-op socialism.

Wolff has given us in this book a very useful tool for understanding the system in which we currently live, while at the same time offering us the vision of an alternative that is both practical and attractive. And he does so in a very clear, direct and accessible style, that should appeal to a wide audience.

Richard D. Wolff, The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself. Democracy at Work, September 2020.

www.democracyatwork.info/books

 

Reflecting on the Great East Japan Earthquake – Part One

(an excerpt)

by Mariko Matsumoto

On 11 March 2011, a devastating earthquake of magnitude 9 struck the Japanese archipelago where I live and the images of the damage caused by the massive tsunami shocked the world. The powerful tsunami that hit the eastern coast of Japan, especially the ports and towns along the rocky ‘saw-tooth’ coast of Tohoku killed 22,192 people; this figure includes the missing as well as related deaths. Ten years have passed since then.

Immediately after the disaster, I remember people walking silently, wearing their waterproof boots, looking for missing relatives and acquaintances, supplies and clean water. The tsunami disaster of the Great East Japan Earthquake transformed the entire landscape of the town in one night. We who had had no experience of the Second World War could imagine what the scenery would have been like this during and after the war. And even now, whenever I see news about terrorism and civil wars happening around the world, the massive explosion in Beirut in 2020, or natural disasters caused by the climate crisis, it overlaps in my mind with the scene of the earthquake.

Distributing relief supplies

In the beginning, communication was cut off and we were unable to contact our families and acquaintances for a long time, but, once that was restored, Share International group members from all over Japan delivered relief supplies and donations one after another. Some of them gave the donations they had set aside for Benjamin Creme’s scheduled lecture which had had to be cancelled. And others sent us relief supplies based on the particular needs of the affected areas. Stationery, clothes, bags, daily necessities, towels, blankets and bedding, pillows, cushions, water, bicycles and so on. I also recall running around to the local stores and neighboring towns to buy supplies for distribution, using the money sent to support the stores in the affected areas.…

Both the victims and those who had not suffered much damage quietly shared, showed compassion and solidarity; we could see connections and co-operation that we don’t see in everyday life. Even though lives were destroyed and supplies were lacking, the warmth and support of people was what helped them get through the difficult times. The way people greeted and cared for each other in the streets, even if they were strangers, reminded me of the essential human connection. These modest and considerate exchanges were comforting to the hearts of the people.

As the Japanese word kizuna (fellowship, bond, affiliation, relationship) symbolizes, I believe that people have an innate human desire to be connected to each other. Paradoxically, it is said that in the event of an unprecedented disaster, people tend to act in a calm and fraternal manner. Indeed, people worked voluntarily and voluntary communities such as evacuation centers emerged. The value of profound empathy, altruism, sharing, and cooperation that is not found in everyday life or society appeared. The essential nature of human beings shown in the event of a disaster should be seen and experienced in normal times....

US UFO report: disclosure or dissemblance?

(an excerpt)

by William Allen

In the popular American syndicated comic strip Peanuts, the main character, Charlie Brown, is frequently tricked by his friend Lucy, who holds a football on the ground for him to kick. Just as he is about to kick the ball, Lucy pulls it away, causing Charlie to flip into the air and land hard on his backside….

The New York Times’ story undoubtedly deflated numerous UFO researchers and enthusiasts hoping for more concrete answers about the government’s knowledge of UFOs in some type of long awaited “disclosure,” while confirming for others less sanguine their suspicion that the unclassified report’s ambiguity and underwhelming conclusions are simply part and parcel of an ongoing cover-up: Lucy pulling the ball away. Again.

The story also raises pertinent questions such as: Why go back only 20 years rather than 70; why mainly Naval aviator incidents; and perhaps most importantly: what do the military/intelligence agencies consider valid evidence that a UFO is extraterrestrial?

Still, that a report was prepared at all is significant. For, according to Elizondo and other former officials, there has been an ongoing tug of war for years within and between intelligence agencies and military branches over whether or not to reveal anything, especially what has hitherto been classified. Now the US Congress has joined the fray with their pressure for more inter-agency cooperation and transparency.

Perhaps some remarks by former British Ministry of Defense UFO investigator Nick Pope, in a May 2021 interview with The US Sun, were an accurate evaluation of the dynamics in motion. “Something is playing out right now”, he said. “Powerful forces are at work behind the scenes, pulling the strings on this.... There could be something about the (UFO) phenomena which is just going to be undeniable very shortly and this is the US government trying to get out ahead of the story and drive the narrative.”

‘Drive’, as in ‘control’. Narrative’, as in ‘possible national security threat’.

Benjamin Creme’s Master foretold in The Gathering of the Forces of Light: “People everywhere will be astonished by the reports.... sightings, in unprecedented numbers, of spacecraft from our neighboring planets.... Nothing like this increased activity, over vast areas of the Earth, will have been seen before. Those who have steadfastly refused to take seriously the reality of this phenomenon will find it difficult to deny.”

Indeed, as one who has monitored UFO reporting websites, social media and YouTube channels for years, I can state with confidence that the “increased activity” is undeniably underway. US government agencies had better be prepared for a different narrative.

(Sources: intelligence.senate.gov, defense.gov/newsroom/releases; politico.com; cbsnews.com/60-minutes; nytimes.com; the-sun.com)

Why going back to ‘normal’ is the worst thing we could do

(an excerpt)

by Felicity Eliot

….

‘The bizarre times we live in’ – this or similar frequently heard phrases were used to describe 2020. Still now in 2021 it is a refrain and part of daily chitchat. We say this as if the circumstances of our times have nothing whatsoever to do with us – as if we and our predicament are totally unconnected. Who else makes our circumstances?

What is generally unknown is the crucial fact that there is a blueprint for our planet and all life on it. This statement assumes and indicates that somehow our planet is a conscious being and that some Consciousness is ‘in charge’ and aware. In the natural world, this means an evolution of form; but for humanity evolution of consciousness is the goal, whether we know it or not. Maitreya and the Masters are the custodians of that Plan and They are dedicated to expanding consciousness in all life forms and, in the case of humanity, stimulating our awareness of Reality or the nature of the Divine Being that we are an integral part of. Perhaps now, as we begin to realize our part in the current crises, it might be wise to begin to try to find ways of aligning our individual and communal wills with as much of that divine blueprint as we are capable of discerning, or that the Masters may be trying to show us.

Market forces

In 1989 Maitreya warned that, although no large global conflicts were taking place, “The energy which drives soldiers into battle and fills the air with warplanes has been switched off. But that energy cannot just disappear, it has to go somewhere. This energy has been roaming the world and suddenly it has found a new womb: commercialization, which has been created by market forces. The new creed of the superpowers has become the economy, which is the soul of commercialization, and this represents a serious new threat to the world, one that could even compromise human life. The quality of commercialization is greed, and it will affect all nations. This negative energy which recoiled from the battlefield is a force without eyes or mind and will create a very hostile world. But although the politicians believe that commercialization is the future of the human race, they cannot control this energy.” (my italics) (Maitreya’s Teachings, The Laws of Life)

How would a person from another planet describe our times? Key traits seem to be selfishness, based in a sense of separateness which springs from a lack of connection with our true nature; greed, competition and complacency, which keep us addicted to materialism. We are inoculated against sensitivity to social injustice. Add to this diseased situation the lust for power, and the result is the enslavement of much of humanity today to commercialization and consumerism – a numbed state of being, stimulated and encouraged by the Forces of Materiality. What the pandemic of 2020 and 2021 has highlighted are the iniquities of our economic system which have allowed the super-rich to become mega rich, while others have lost their livelihoods, and struggled to feed their children – and that in the wealthiest countries...

I believe that people power, the massed demand for a better world, has been partially subverted and temporarily distorted by the Forces of Materiality or Chaos. They know that the power of the people, in its broadest applications, is the hope of the world. Educated mass public opinion, correctly informed, equipped with scientific facts, making use of expertise, sure in the truth and facts of their position, in local politics, in community activity, in regional, national and international treaties and demonstrations, through petitions and boycotts, in strikes and through all means available are the solution and the key to change. But trust in facts has been eroded. Our times are marked by insane concepts: where ‘fake news’ prevails, reality itself is dismissed; truth is rejected as fake news. In the ensuing chaos, conspiracy theories have blossomed. To many, the mainstream media is suspect; social media, while a brilliant tool for organizing protests, is awash with extreme and unsubstantiated opinion. Alternative media sources provide reliable reports but, being non-commercial, often struggle to survive. The world longs for a clear voice....

Benjamin Creme’s Master said that there are roughly two billion people whom Maitreya can count on. It is imperative that we seize the opportunity created by the suffering, curtailment and breakdown of 2020 and 2021.

‘Normal’ is a distortion of what we could have been for at least the last 70 years. It is those who count themselves as one with the two billion who must join together across all sectors of society to demand justice and full participation in building the new civilization we need in order to become our full and real selves. Synergy will carry the day, establishing a new normal, fit for the free expression of our true divine nature.

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